Graduation
by Ivy Leaves
Summary: They have half an hour left in high school, and only one goal to fulfill... *sniffle* Fluffy. T/V and *Yay!* J/C for the shippers...


Graduation

Graduation 

** **

And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives  
Where we're gonna be when we turn 25  
I keep thinking times will never change  
Keep on thinking things will always be the same  
But when we leave this year we won't be coming back  
No more hanging out cause we're on a different track  
And if you got something that you need to say  
You better say it right now cause you don't have another day

Valerie Lanier looked distraughtly at her best friend.

"I can't do it, Caitie. I'm not ready yet." She looked at the** Class of 2002 Graduation **banner and felt like she was going to be sick.

"Oh, give me a break." Caitie gave one of her trademark sarcastic laughs. "You got into UCLA, and who's been telling me for three months that you're so excited?"

"Me. But I can't do it. Where's Tyler?" Her ramblings were insane, but Caitie listened patiently.

"It's okay, Val, we have half an hour until the ceremony begins. Don't get cold feet."

"Where's Tyler?" Val shrieked. "I have to see Tyler!"

"Okay, then," said a dubious Caitie. "Why don't you go ask Hank?"

Val tore off, her black robe billowing out behind her as she ran.

"Hank!" she yelled, eyes searching the bevy of black hats for a familiar face—Hank's or Tyler's, Val didn't care, although Tyler's might be more welcome.

Hank turned around, the gold tassel spinning with his body.

"What's the matter?" he asked Val, who was trying to catch her breath and talk decently at the same time.

"Where's Tyler? Where_ is _he?" Her voice was a nervous scream. Hank sighed and tried to calm her.

"I don't know. He said something about old classrooms…"

The words hadn't hung in the air for a second before Val was off, racing out of the backstage and into the corridors of Kingsport High.

  
Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down  
These memories are playing like a film without sound  
And I keep thinking of that night in June  
I didn't know much of love  
But it came too soon and there was me and you  
And then we got real blue  
Stay at home talking on the telephone  
We'd get so excited, we'd get so scared  
Laughing at our selves thinking life's not fair  
And this is how it feels

English room.

No Tyler.

Science room.

No Tyler.

History… Math… Drama…

The classes spun dizzily in front of her eyes and she felt sick. Val had no idea why she needed Tyler so badly at that moment—no idea at all. She just knew that she was never going to get up the courage to go out there and say goodbye to high school, to innocent school years, without seeing Tyler.

She entered the music room and looked around like a crazed idiot before falling to the stands…

Stands they had stood on and sung on in freshman year, when singing was required; stands they had played instruments on in the extracurricular band Val had joined freshman year, clueless as to how horrible it would be… of course, Tyler had been right behind her and he was one of her best friends even then…

Of course.

Val knew why Tyler wasn't here, why she wasn't finding any comfort in the music room. Because all the events that had taken place here had taken place in freshman year. Her freshman year, when she was clueless and so much more idiotic than she was now. Come to think of it, she had been running through all her freshman and some of her sophomore classes—they were in this wing, the closest to the graduation ceremony.

She had to go somewhere more recent—perhaps senior or junior.

And she ran through the halls again until she reached the end of the 300 block of lockers and turned left, through the double doors that took her to the junior section.

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

She repeated her run-through of classes in the junior section, letting them all blend into one perfect smoothie of high school… Math Science English History Art Spanish French Latin Japanese… no Tyler.

The clock read 10:47. Thirteen more minutes. Val felt like she was about to burst into tears.

_There's still the senior section,_ she reminded herself_. Maybe he's there._

MathScienceEnglishHistorySpanishFrenchLatinJapaneseCafeteria…

No Tyler.

Val was killing herself for two things—first of all, not knowing where Tyler was, second of all, not knowing why she needed to see him so badly. He was just a crush, just a small crush, one of her best friends and a fellow EMT. Maybe that was it. The fact he was such a great friend and a fellow EMT. It had nothing to do with the minuscule… tiny… minute… crush.

_Yeah, but if it's so minute, why am I about to cry?_

Val didn't want to answer that.

Tyler.

Her.

Tyler.

Her.

Tyler…

Her head was about to split in half with the pain.

_Where did we meet? Val wondered. First day of eighth grade and he sat in front of me in English… but then I started knowing him better. I mean, what with EMS and school and football…_

__Football.

Val knew where he was, where he had gone for the final goodbye to Kingsport High.

Her feet had never moved so fast, one foot in front of the other in front of the other in front of the other in front of…

She pushed open the door.

So if we get the big jobs  
And we make the big money  
When we look back now  
Will our jokes still be funny?  
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?  
Still be trying to break every single rule  
Will little brainy Bobby be the stockbroker man?  
Can we ever find a job that won't interfere with a tan?  
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly  
And this is how it feels

He was standing in the middle of the stadium, looking around at the bleachers and the goals and the grass and the sky.

At everything.

"Tyler!" Her lips moved freely in a shout, and the word came out in a single gasp that spun on the wind. Tyler turned and the distance between them seemed more like miles than yards.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, walking towards her.

She took a step. And another. And another. Slowly… slowly…

But there wasn't enough time to go slowly.

She broke into a run, racing against time to win the distance between them.

"God… Tyler…" Her arms wrapped around his neck and he wound his around her waist, lifting her up a few inches so she could look down directly into his eyes.

Now or never, thought Val blurrily, her thoughts faded by the pulsing of her veins.

Without even thinking, she kissed him with as much force as she possibly could, acting alone for a minute until the initial shock wore off and he was kissing her back with equal ferocity. She clung to him, absolutely shaking as her fear of losing him—she had realized what it was as soon as he put his arms around her—evaporated.

Because she'd never forget him. Never.

"I couldn't graduate without saying goodbye," Val told him, pulling away.

"It's never goodbye," he said. "Not as long as I can help it."

He pulled her head to his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her.

"Let's go graduate," Tyler suggested. Val smiled.

"Good idea."

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

La, la, la, la…  
Yeah, yeah, yeah  
La, la, la, la…  
We will still be friends forever

"So," Caitie said, seeing Val come back seven minutes before the ceremony started, "I see you found Tyler."

"Yeah," Val laughed. "I found him."

"Okay, and is there a reason he has your lip gloss all over his lips?" asked Caitie, all too sure of what had happened.

Val squinted at him.

"You'd better wipe that off," she commented. He grinned, kissed her again, and walked off to get in line.

"Isn't he great?" sighed Val. Caitie rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's about time."

"Oh, shut up. At least I did it before high school was over," Val pointed out. "I could have waited until the reunion."

"I'm sure, in an alternate universe, that has happened," said Caitie. "Now, move over and give Austin Matthews space."

"You know, maybe you should go kiss Jamie," said Val. "Then you could do it before high school's out, too."

"What? Excuse me, we're just friends." Caitie crossed her arms and tried to look convincing, even though a blush was rising in her cheeks.

"Uh huh. And somehow you never believed me when I said there was no relationship, but you believe yourself now." Val shook her head and choked down a laugh. "Go kiss him. It's very easy."

"I'm not kissing him."

The spoken person appeared behind Caitie.

"Kissing who?" Jamie asked. Caitie scowled.

"You," she muttered, trying not to turn red.

"Pity," he said. "That means I have to do it."

And apparently for once Jamie Waite wasn't joking, because he leaned down and kissed Caitie quickly on the lips.

"See ya. By the way, Val, I saw Tyler. Good going." He gave her a thumbs-up and disappeared into the line. Caitie was touching her lip with her mouth wide open in surprise. Val grinned.

"See? Very easy."

Caitie might have scowled, but that would mean taking her hand off of her lips, something she wasn't about to do. Besides, she was elated—even though she might never admit it.

"Graduating class of 2002!" proclaimed the principal. Val saw Tyler's thumbs-up sign from up near the start of the line and passed it on to Caitie.

"Friends forever, Caitie," Val whispered as the line started moving. Caitie grinned.

"Friends forever."

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?  
Can we survive it out there?  
Can we make it somehow?  
I guess I thought that this would never end  
And suddenly it's like we're women and men  
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?  
Will these memories fade when I leave this town  
I keep, I keep thinking that it's not goodbye  
Keep on thinking it's a time to fly

As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
Come whatever  
We will still be  
Friends Forever

**Okay, pure fluff. Ah well. I hope I satisfied some J/C shippers, too. I seem to have an easy time keeping Caitie's mouth in character, though the rest of her is a different story… Hmm. So, anyway, please review 'cause I *love* feedback, even if it's *sob* criticism. Thanks! Bye!**

** **

**~IVY LEAVES**


End file.
